billion dollars. and on the loose. a strange sight in new york city when a pony and zebra run wild through the streets. this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, november 29, 2012. good morning. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. and a little more than a month the u.s. economy could experience a severe shock. that is if leaders in washington can't come up with a budget deal. scares of automatic spending cuts and tax increases could take effect january 1st. democrats moved by president obama and congressional republicans signaled they are willing to compromise on changing tax rates and spending reductions but the negotiations are moving very, very slowly. susan mcginnis is in washington with the latest. susan, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. the president is sending his top

two negotiators to talk with lawmakers today about possible spending cuts. he's also getting ready to take his fiscal cliff message on the road. he'll try to convince the american people the best way to avoid the fiscal cliff is to extend the bush era tax cuts for the middle class. >> it's too important for washington to screw this up. >> reporter: president obama is putting pressure on congressional republicans and he's enlisting middle class americans in getting the gop to take action on taxes. >> when the american people speak loudly enough, lo and behold congress listens. >> reporter: tomorrow he'll host a campaign style event where he calls on lawmakers to extend the tax rates on families making less than $250,000 a year. once that's done they can work on other details such as spending cuts and changes to the tax code, medicare and medicaid. >> he's out there campaigning for his position. i get it. we understand it.

at the end of the day he has to lead on this issue. >> reporter: some republican lawmakers have said they are willing to compromise on the tax issue. oklahoma representative tom cole said the gop should sign off on the middle class extension. but house speaker john boehner isn't ready to budge yet. >> it will hurt small businesses, hurt our economy. it's why this is not the right approach. >> reporter: on capitol hill on wednesday, erskine bowles met with both sides. he's the co-chair of the committee that drew up a plan to cut the federal debt. >> i'm hopeful but don't put me down anywhere near optimistic category. we got a long way to go and very few days to get it done. >> reporter: and some signs of compromise from the democrats. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi is giving some hints her party may be willing to consider some of those offers made between the president and speaker boehner during last year's budget talks including cuts to medicaid and medicare and one more sign two sides are moving together. today president obama is hosting

mitt romney for lunch. it's closed to the press but those fiscal cliff talks will be part of that discussion. >> curious minds will want to know. susan, thank you. the fiscal issue of another sort, the record setting powerball jackpot. we like talking about this fiscal issue. this morning lottery officials say there are two winning tickets for the grand prize. the winning tickets were sold in arizona and missouri. the prize winners have not come forward. the winning numbers, 5, 16, 22, 23, 29 and powerball 6. the winners will split a jackpot of more than $587 million. second largest in u.s. lottery history. later in the broadcast, a report from anna warner on the down side to lottery fever. addictive gambling. that's later on this morning. this morning the west coast is getting ready for the second of three back-to-back storm

systems, the so-called pineapple weather system started in the hawaiian islands. some call it a train. a mix of powerful torrential rains and strong winds. it has knocked down power lines and trees in northern california yesterday. a second more powerful storm is expected to hit this afternoon. the third with the most rain is expected this weekend. some areas could see as much as 18 inches of rain. overseas now, egyptian president mohamed morsi is expected to explain why he granted himself almost absolute authority in a national address later today. anti-morsi protests raged through the night just down the road from where the egyptian assembly agreed on a final constitution. a vote is expected today. holly williams is in cairo. >> reporter: what we're seeing here in egypt is a straight on -- 0 show down between mohamed morsi the country's first

democratically elected president and his opponent. morsi is showing no signs of backing down from the expanded new powers that he gave himself last week including immunity from the court. judges from these top courts have gone on strike. meanwhile egypt's supreme constitutional court said it will rule on sunday on whether or not to dissolve the assembly that drafted egypt's new constitution. that assembly is dominated by morsi's allies. they are rushing to finish a final draft. on tahrir square in central cairo some opponents are camped out and say they won't leave until he relinquishes his new powers. president morsi supporters are planning a demonstration there on saturday. that could spark violent clashes. holly williams, cbs news, cairo. >> today the united nations is expected to vote to recognize palestine as a sovereign state. the vote to give the palestinians a non-member observer status is opposed by the united states and israel. >> reporter: good morning.

that vote will take place in the general assembly where there will be only observer status. to become a member you need u.n. security council and that won't happen because the u.s. will veto it. the u.s. and israel tried hard to get palestine not to go along with today's vote. but they are now down playing it it doesn't give palestine what it wants. it's quiet this morning outside the u.n. but demonstrators are expected to protest the vote on palestinian recognition. palestinians are seeking status as a nonmember observer. palestinians say they need u.n. recognition of a palestinian state in the west bank in order to get israel back to the negotiating table. the u.s. insists on direct negotiations with israel. >> the path to a two state solution is through jerusalem and ramallah, not new york.

>> reporter: they recognized the palestine 1977 borders before israel fought and won part of palestinian land. >> we know the occupation will not disappear, we know that there might be certain consequences because israel wants to punish us. >> reporter: president abbas is preparing a speech before the vote. he's hoping to gain support here at the u.n. and at home. abbas palestinian authority was left largely on the sidelines during the battle over the gaza strip. hamas launched the rocket offensive into israel which won the hearts of many palestinians during the battle. >> the war on gaza, marginalized to a certain extent the public stance of the palestinian authority. this move to the united nations seems to be strengthening the stance. >> reporter: the palestinians believe they will win two-thirds of the vote today.

this vote takes place exactly 65 years since the vote at the u.n. on the british mandate which divided the territory in the middle east creating the states of israel and jordan and triggering this decades long conflict over palestine. >> randall pinkston at the u.n. this morning. thank you. coming up on the morning news, washed up. we learn the fate of a roller coaster dumped into the ocean by hurricane sandy. this is the morning news. hurricane sandy. this is the morning news. ♪ we're just looking right? of course. this is the leo diamond. wow. it's the first diamond ever independently certified to be visibly brighter. it's...perfect. it even fits. that's because... ♪ ...i already had it sized. will you marry me? [ female announcer ] the visibly brighter leo diamond. handcrafted by the master diamond artisans at leo schachter. at kay, the number-one jewelry store in america. yes. ♪ every kiss begins with kay

i need all the help i can get. i tell them, "come straight to the table." i say, "it's breakfast time, not playtime." "there's fruit, milk and i'm putting a little nutella on your whole-wheat toast." funny, that last part gets through. [ male announcer ] serving nutella is quick and easy. its great taste comes from a unique combination of simple ingredients like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. okay, plates in the sink, grab your backpacks -- [ male announcer ] nutella. breakfast never tasted this good. side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board. what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ whooshing ] tell me about it. why am i not going anywhere? you don't believe hard enough. a smarter way to shop around. now that's progressive. call or click today. [ grunting ]

two bp employees and a former executive are free on bond this morning. robert kaluza, donald vidrine and david rainey were in court in are new orleans wednesday and pled not guilty. kaluza and vidrine are charged with manslaughter. they were rig supervisors when the deepwater horizon exploded two years ago. before court kaluza said he did nothing wrong. >> i did not cause this tragedy. i'm innocent.

and i put my trust, reputation and future in the hands of the judge and the jury. >> rainey is charged with not telling congress how much oil leaked into the ocean. trials for the three men are expected to begin early next year. in texas two army vets and their wives filed a lawsuit wednesday in the deadly train crash that killed four people and injured 16 others. they were on the truck that was hit during a veterans parade earlier this month. they are suing the railroad and truck company for negligence. also yesterday texas officials released documents that showed the warning system at the crossing was 20 seconds which meets federal guidelines. it is going to cost new jersey more to clean up after superstorm sandy. governor chris christie originally estimated it would cost just over $29 billion. now he's raised it to nearly 37 billion. part of those costs will go to tearing down the partially submerged roller coaster off seaside heights. the mayor thought it would become a tourist attraction.

but now says there are too many potential problems. coming up next your thursday morning weather and in sports a brawl under the basket in boston. the celtics and the nets get tough and get ejected. get tough and get ejected. mild to moderate alzheimer's, you'll also care about our new offer. you get access to nurses who can help with your questions. and your loved one can get exelon patch free for 30 days. if the doctor feels it's right for them. it cannot change how the disease progresses. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. patients may experience slow heart rate.

thirty days of exelon patch free for your loved one. access to trained nurses for you. call 1-855-999-1399 or visit exelonpatchoffer2.com. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. partly sunny in new york, 45 degrees. showers in miami, 79. partly sunny in chicago, 47. partly sunny in dallas, 69. passing showers in l.a., 68 degrees.

let's check your national forecast. another round of storms will pound the west coast expect heavy rain six inches in some areas and heavy snow in the mountain region. gusts up to 50 miles per hour will blow through the lower elevations and could hit 100 miles per hour up in the mountains. northern michigan could get two inches of lake-effect snow and mostly dry around the rest of the country. cbs moneywatch time now on a thursday. stocks get a boost from fiscal cliff talks and starbucks spills the beans on expensive coffee. ashley morrison is here in new york with more. >> reporter: asian markets got a lift on optimism from debt talks in washington. tokyo's nikkei rose 1% while the hong kong hang seng gained 1%. wall street got a boost from the fiscal cliff talks. dow added 106 points after being down triple digits earlier in the day. nasdaq gained 23 points. the u.s. economy is growing at a steady pace according to the latest report from the federal reserve.

the so-called beige book survey shows a pickup in consumer spending and home sales in october and early november. economic growth improved in nine of the 12 federal reserve districts but superstorm sandy hampered growth in the northeast. could the dollar bill be going the way of the doo-doo. a congressional panel is once again calling for the u.s. to stop printing singles and switch entirely to dollar coins. the nonpartisan panel believes it could save taxpayers money. it's more expensive to produce coins but they last about six times longer than paper bills. and you'll need some extra coins to buy starbucks latest. the coffee king is selling a new brew that will set you back $7 for a grande cup. it's made from a rare been grown in costa rica. if you want to brew a cup at home, a bag of the new coffee will cost $40.

that will keep me caffeinated all day long. >> it will change my life every time i sip it. >> yes. >> ashley morrison here in new york. in sports this morning ohio state tried to do the almost impossible, beat duke on its home court. in the first half it looked promising. the buckeyes launching threes to take the early lead. the blue devils come back in the second half. they beat ohio state 73-68. in boston brawl ball. second quarter a hard brawl. humphreys sent kevin garnett to the floor. oh, boy and off we go. everybody jumps in when the pushing and shoving stops humphries and gerald wallace were ejected. fourth quarter. great ball handing. paul pierce goes to his knees and knocks down the jumper. nets out battle the celtics 95-83. why did the zebra and pony cross the road? to star in their own viral video.

the story behind this bizarre sighting on the streets of new york city. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

a woman's scream scares offn intruder looming over her in bed. now the search for the suspect. plus: preparing for round ta slow-moving soaker nears thy area. the potential threat for mudslides and flooding. and a 580 million dollar jackpot. there were two wins last night. when will californians get in on the action. join us for cbs 5 eyewitness news this morning... beginng at 4:30. ,,,,

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in washington mostly sunny 51 degrees. mostly sunny in atlanta, 60. partly sunny in st. louis, 58. mostly sunny in denver, 63 and rain tapers off in seattle, 52. a little bit of an update. remember we told you earlier so far two grand prize winning tickets in the record powerball worth more than $587 million. at one point tickets were killing at a national rate of 130,000 a minute. for most this kind of thing, this kind of fun, this gambling is fun but as anna warner tells us for some it has a danger. >> reporter: florida sold 20,000 powerball tickets a minute. but lisa didn't buy one.

it's been a tough road for you. the letter carrier is fighting an addiction to gambling which cost her $70,000, as much as 10,000 on scratch off lottery tickets. >> what did gambling do to your life? >> gambling put my life upside down. i set out my family, i set out my friends. it was all i wanted to do. >> you were hooked? >> i was hooked from day one. >> reporter: she got help after she called this hotline run by the florida council on compulsive gambling but last year florida cut its budget by a million and a half dollars while spending 30 million on lottery advertising. pat fowler heads the council. >> a lot of the funding that our organization received was utilized for marketing and outreach. because we know that's how we get help to the people who need it. >> reporter: six states have cut help for compulsive gamblers as they expanded gambling.

new york cut 41 programs. but spent $85 million advertising its lottery. >> yeah that kind of rich. >> reporter: state approved gambling generates more than $23 billion twice as much as movie ticket sales. powerball profits fund schools and scholarships. $45 million in florida alone since the last jackpot. lottery hoopla can hide some of the costs, financial and human. >> people out there need help. if they don't give the funding that is needed for this, there's going to be so many more cases like mine. >> reporter: anna warner, cbs news. >> a man on a delta airlines flight from milwaukee to detroit found a shotgun shell on his seat. the plane was still at the airport so all the passengers were removed and rescreened but officials didn't find anything. they also had a k-9 unit sweep the plane and came up empty. the flight arrived in detroit about an hour late.

>> it got a little wild on new york staten island. casper the pony and rodney the zebra escaped from their backyard pen and made a dash for freedom. their great escape down victory boulevard was caught on cell phone by a shop owner. they returned home and will be sent to live in a barn in new jersey. in new york more like christmas. last night they turned on the lights to the rockefeller center christmas tree. the norway spruce is from new jersey where it survived hurricane sandy a month ago. this is the "cbs morning news." it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage.

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in southern italy a rare tornado caught on tape at europe's largest steel plant. one person is still missing, two dozen people were injured. a warehouse and lighthouse were damaged. owners planned to close the facility which had been involved in a pollution scam. in bangladesh, a factory is

under investigation for a fire that killed 112 workers over the weekend. labor activists say the fire is the deadliest in that country's 35 year history of exporting clothing. as jim axelrod reports the factory made clothing for some of america's top retailers. >> reporter: three men are now in custody. they are suspected of locking workers inside the factory before the fire started. a reporter for the associated press went to the burned out factory. we spoke to him by phone. him by phone. he's in the factory holding a disney sweat shirt. 's in the factory holding a disney sweat shirt. he also identified clothing made for sean combs label. in statements both disney and walmart say their clothing suppliers in bangladesh were doing business with the factory

without their knowledge. disney says it hasn't allowed it to manufacture disney products for the last 12 months. walmart says the tazreen factory was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for the company. scott nova traveled to bangladesh after another factory fire in 2010 to investigate workers' conditions. >> the fact is that their clothing was in this factory being produced by these workers and they are responsible for protecting the safety and lives of the workers who make their clothing. >> reporter: thousands are now protesting conditions in the factories that make bangladesh the world's second largest apparel producer. 300 workers in bangladesh have died there in fires since 2006, the minimum wage, 18 cents an hour. >> what we're seeing is a huge gap between the corporate responsibility rhetoric of these brands and retailers and practices and their supply

chain. >> reporter: what would that 18 cents an hour in bangladesh mean in an economy like here in the united states. according to the world bank 8 cents equates to 55 cents an hour here. jim axelrod, cbs news new york. coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning," president obama and mitt romney meet for the first time today since the election. we'll talk with stewart stevens. plus we'll hear from lottery officials about the winners of last night's record powerball drawing. and w everyone yton marsalis stops by to celebrate 25 years of jazz. that and more a little later. that's the morning news for this thursday. as always appreciate you watching. i'm terrell brown in new york. take care everybody. have a great day. ,,,,

and i'm michelle griego. tis 4:-- good morning. it is thursday, november 29th. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now just about 4:30. major police activity happening right now near downtown palo alto. >> officers are combing through the area near an apartment complex on high and hawthorne streets. k-9 units are searching the area right now. we have a live crew on the scene. we are going to have more information on that search coming up in just a few minutes. round one wasn't so bad but the worst is yet to come. more wet windy weather is bearing down on the bay area. we have live team coverage this morning with cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran in daly city but first meteorologist lawrence karnow is in